I work mostly from home and have taken a long walk around noon in almost all forms of weather for the past 20 years. We have the good fortune to live next to a forested swampy nature preserve. Within a few weeks you begin to notice the changes in flora and fauna. A few months and the beginnings of the seasons emerge. Ten years and differences in the season seasonal patterns emerge and larger scale change shows itself.
It didn't take long for me to appreciate we have six seasons in this part of the world - early spring, spring, summer, early fall, late fall and winter. They've shifted a fair amount in the time I've been watching with the shift in animal life being alarming. It turns out the indigenous peoples in the area counted six to eight seasons with six being most common. Recently, after hearing a piece on two-spirt people in First Nations Peoples and learning the Cree recognize at least twelve genders, I started wondering about the seasons question.
As far as I can tell the Japanese calendar used for over 1,000 years until 1872 is the winner. It referenced seasons and microseasons local to Kyoto. 24 seasons which were then broken further into 72 kō. It gives a very slow and rich way to observe nature around you. I love some of the descriptive names:
It's Suzukaze itaru or cool winds blow as I post this. In two days Higurashi naku or evening cicadas sing begins.
I've started to break down my notes into week long segments to be more sensitive to the longer term change. Of course the real reason is to move slowly with your eyes and ears open, because we tend to overlook what surrounds us.
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